…or Begins. Depending on how you look at it. After almost a year of blogging all the news your womb can use, this will be my final week here at Fertility Notes and at b5media.
Sniff.
But don’t you be sad! You can still find me at my private blog (you can email me for details) and at www.nationalparksonline.net, our newly revamped blog chronicling Michael’s and my two-year road trip to all of the National Park sites across the United States and keeping you up to date on national park news. If you’re interested, I am working on some pretty neat things over at www.par.net for folks looking for autism or intellectual disabilities services here in Pennsylvania.
And here’s even better news: for those of you following my personal fertility journey, we received two very nice hCG (aka “pregnancy hormone“) numbers this week. While I’m wary of celebrating just yet, things are looking pretty good. We have an ultrasound (!) scheduled for later this month.
Since this will likely be my last post, I wanted to leave you with some of my favorite all time posts and helpful hints. Here is what I learned writing Fertility Notes:
I think I can squeeze in one more trip or two to the beach. I have to. I still have summer reading to do. I still haven’t finished the The Mind-Body Fertility Connection: The True Pathway to Conception by James Schwartz. Did I mention that I have some extra copies to share? Want one?
Let me tell you what I know: James Schwartz is a Board certified Hypnotherapist and founder and director of the Rocky Mountain Hypnotherapy Center in Lakewood, Colorado. He’s got a fertility program called, “Hypnosis to Promote Fertility” which focuses on “healing the mental and emotional barriers that can often prevent conception.” That practice is the basis of the book that I have for you.
If that sounds like something you’d like to know more about, email me at polchic@hotmail.com and ‘ll tell you more….
Why BRANDI! It’s you! You are this week’s Freebie Friday Winner!
Brandi is now the proud owner of a Fertility Scope - an adorable little contraption designed to test your saliva to determine the optimum time to try to conceive.
Cramps suck. They suck when they signal the arrival of an Aunt that you didn’t really want to see this month. They suck when they turn your pre-menstrual blues into actual pain. But I think they suck the most when they occur in the midst of the Two Week Wait - that neverending space of time between an embryo transfer and the first day that you can take a blood test, your beta, to see whether or not something’s a’growin’.
While cramps during the TWW can cause a little panic and anxiety in addition to the normal discomfort, they are totally normal and, unfortunately, not indicative of anything. In fact, they could simply be a common side effect of progesterone. Trust me. After about an hour on the internet this morning and a few more calls to a doctor, no one is willing to place any significance on cramping (or not cramping), spotting (or not spotting) during the two week wait.
Argh.
So, I’m leaving you with some Cramps that are a little more fun:
If you are still undergoing cancer treatments and think others at your oncologist’s office would benefit from this, you can use Fertile Hope’s Tell Your Doctor tool and they’ll take care of the rest.
A little over a year ago, when hubby and I finally realized that surely I must not be the only childhood cancer survivor who wanted to have a baby, (Hey, sometimes that light bulb takes a little longer to light for some of us…) finding Fertile Hope was the first glimmer of, well, hope for us. An earlier version of this Guide helped steer us in the right direction and connected us with the Reproductive Endocrinologist and clinic that still works with us today.
Even though we are not directly involved in a Fertile Hope program, finding an RE with at least a basic understanding of oncofertility was essential for us. I think that search would have taken much longer without Fertile Hope.
Here’s to hoping that this post shortens a search or two.
Urologist Dr. Fisch shared some info from the book he co-authored with Kara Baskin. Some of the pertinent points from the doc include:
“penis size doesn’t vary as much as people think. The average is 5.4 inches. Most men are between four and six inches. When you have less than three inches, then that’s a real problem fertility-wise — it’s too small of a penis to actually reach the cervix.”
“the larger the testicle, the better the fertility and the better chance to have a good testosterone level. Bigger is better.”
Dr. Fisch goes on to explain a number of misconceptions related to size, virility and the importance of belly fat (too much in men reduces fertility). The Calgary Herald notes,
Guys reading all of this may freak out a little.
To which Dr. Fisch responds:
I don’t want them to freak out. I want them to buy the book and to read to see what questions women are asking, because we’ve got to get men to understand what women are thinking.
A Newsweek article that will be published in the August 4th issue of the magazine gives a great explanation of what Oncofertility is and why it matters so much to cancer patients.
Of the 125,000 people under the age of 45 who are diagnosed with cancer each year, roughly half will receive treatments that will affect their fertility. The cancers that most commonly strike the young—leukemias, lymphomas and breast cancers—require some of the most toxic forms of chemotherapy, which target rapidly growing and fragile cells like hair follicles, sperm and eggs.
The good news: patients who would like to become parents have a growing array of options. Men are benefiting from a procedure that allows urologists to find a single live sperm to bank, which can then be used in an in vitro fertilization method that requires just one sperm. Women can freeze eggs or ovarian tissue, though success rates are still low. Those with partners (or donor sperm) can freeze embryos, the procedure with the best track record, though, like egg freezing, it’s available only to patients who have two to six weeks before starting treatment. On the horizon are less toxic chemotherapy agents as well as methods of shielding eggs and sperm from harm.
But can I just ask that you, dear docs, take a little more care in those “methods of shielding eggs and sperm from harm?”
Before I started the radiation segment of my treatment for Hodgkin’s Disease, someone thought that by pulling my ovaries behind my uterus (which would be shielded from the radiation by a big lead block), that would be good enough. Instead, it took years and several confused ultrasound technicians to finally locate those ovaries again - which were anything but shielded from harm.
I’m just sayin’.
Anyway, this is a nice article in mainstream media that’s not the NY Times (who has had fertility-related articles in nearly every Sunday edition for the last several weeks.) I dig it.
Back in April, I mentioned the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act, a piece of legislation which would provide critical resources for the treatment, prevention and cure of childhood cancer. Why? Because infertility and fertility issues are common long-term effects of radiation and chemotherapy, especially when treatments occur during or before puberty. Cancer can be cured, but the shadows cast by the cure are long and lasting of those of us lucky enough to survive the disease (and the cure).
Since I wrote to my Congressmen about the Act, I received the following update from CureSearch.org:
The bill, first introduced in the Senate by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Norm Coleman (R-MN), passed by unanimous consent, echoing a similar 416-0 vote June 12th in the U.S. House of Representatives. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) requested, and received, this unanimous consent on the Senate floor.
What does this mean? It means the bill passed both the House and Senate unanimously and is now on its way to President Bush to sign into law. If he does, $30 million will be authorized annually over five years,
providing funding for collaborative pediatric cancer clinical trials research, to create a population-based national childhood cancer database, and to further improve public awareness and communication regarding available treatment and research for children with cancer and their families.
Hells yes. That is what I am talking about. In the grand scheme of things $30M is not really a huge chunk of money, especially compared to other expenditures in the federal budget. But my goodness, this is a nice place to start.
I am thrilled by this news. I hope you are too. If you did reach out to your Senator or Representative, please take a moment to thank them for their bipartisan efforts on behalf of children with cancer and childhood cancer survivors.
These are the kinds of comments you love to wake up to. I have already forwarded it on to hubby. I wanted to repost it here just in case ladies (with sore feet cursing my name since I said be careful)missed it in the comments section of this post.
Many, many thanks to reader Amy Kreydin for setting me straight. Here is her advice on getting a foot massage while expecting:
As a board certified reflexologist and a DONA trained birth doula I can tell you having a foot rub from your husband isn’t going to bring on labor. He would have to work deeply to the point of causing him discomfort and would need to hold points for greater than a minute each. A good old-fashioned foot rub is just the thing I encourage my expecting clients to receive from their loved ones.
To clarify which points you may not want to put much pressure on (since acupressure and reflexology are two completely different systems), the reflex point for the uterus is located on the inside of the foot near the “ankle” bone. So, if you were standing up it would be about half way between your heel on the floor and the bone a few inches up from it. Pressure here should be gentle and nurturing.
I always think that I’m going to enjoy the mandatory “don’t do anything” for the 24-hours immediately after transfer. But after the first few magazines, boredom can easily set in. Here’s how I whiled away my “don’t do anything” time this time around:
1.) Read about half of this great book I picked up at a used book sale this spring.
2.) Had a “discussion” over whether or not lying on my side or stomach was allowed, or if bedrest really meant “flat on my back.” (update: on the side = ok. on the stomach = notsomuch, at least not for the first 24 hours)
3.) Enjoyed some subversive cross stitch. Really enjoyed the subversive cross stitch. I may need to get more.
4.) Tried to mentally weigh every item in my apartment. Did you know that when they say, “don’t lift anything over 10 lbs.,” that equates to roughly a gallon of milk??? My laptop and cord = just slightly under 9 lbs. My beloved dakine hemp bag with all of my stuff in it? 10 lbs. Argh.
5.) Saw that Michael’s heart rate accelerates and his palms get sweaty anytime he is asked to cook. It’s not that he won’t. He’s just terrified of “messing up” as he puts it. Luckily in-laws and my mom were around this week to lend some hands.
6.) Started some Christmas gifts early (but who haven’t I given a scarf to yet? Anybody need a scarf?)
7.) Had another “discussion” over whether or not pulling open the door to our elevator counts towards the 10 lb. limit. (update: nurse says, no. not really. Take that hubby.)
8.) Found out that progesterone suppositories don’t count when they say, “nothing in the vagina for a week.” Nope. No such luck. They’re a gift that keep on giving.
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by James Schwartz. Did I mention that I have some extra copies to share? Want one?
this week’s Freebie Friday Winner!
, 
1.) Read about half of this great book I picked up at a used book sale this spring.
6.) Started some Christmas gifts early (but who haven’t I given a scarf to yet? Anybody need a scarf?)
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